All Forum Posts by: Patty Nisbet

Hi Bonnie, 

Thank you! Yes, We may just go to the laundry mat instead as much as I will hate that. Thanks for the other tips! Ues, It is a two bedroom 1 queen size and 2 twin beds. I added an image what we have for the kitchen. We can add a few things to do some cooking. 

We bought a house in March with the intentions to rent our basment for Short term. We did and it was decent! November and December took a nose dive. We get most bookings on Airbnb. Not many at all on VRBO. Anyway I am thinking to try mid term to traveling nurses for a bit as we are 5 mins away from University and Childrens. 

I don't know why but having mid term scares me a bit. What if we choose the wrong person and they don't take care of it? Also, I gave no idea on how to charge! 

The basement has 2 bedrooms. one with a queen size bed and the other with two twin beds. It has a small kitchen with no stove. I have a ninja foodie with 20 plus cook settings, a toaster oven and microwave. I can get a electruc burner too. There just isn't ventalation that cooking may not be the best. I saw lityle ventalation fans I could look into. 

The other thing is the laundry room is down there and it is our storage. Can we negotiate laundry time?  We can't move laundry upstairs. 

So questions 

1. what ways can we verify this person or two? 

2. Do you think they would rent with cooking gadgets and no stove? 

3. How do I create a lease? I hear they are expensive? 

4. How do I figure out a good rental price? Is there a site I can do a background check? I have a child so want to be safe. What references do I ask for?

5. is the paper work different with the county and home insurance for midterm than short term? 

I know a ton of questions! I hope someone can help! 

I finally bought a home with a finished basement and separate entrance to house hack. I was a cohost renter taking care of air bnb and vrbo and it was doing well and when the landlord said the rent was going to be $2900 I decided we needed to buy a house to do the same. I was hoping we would do well as we are really close to a lot of stuff. 5 minutes from University and Childrens hospital, 16 minutes from the airport. We are 25 minutes to downtown Denver. We will have a kitchenette with a good size toaster convection oven, insta pot and microwave. Plus a good size fridge. No stove. I guess I noticed air bnb and vrbo slowed down sooooo much at our old place. I am wondering if that will be the same for our new place. It is bigger with more amenities. I don't want to do long term rental. I would be open to travel nurses but everything I read is they are not interested unless there is a full kitchen and laundry room. 

The back yard may be closed off as we have a lot of work to do out there and the laundry room is in a room but has a bit to finish that room and we thought we should close that off until we can fix it up.

We haven't listed as we are still finishing it up. I hope to get photos done next week. 

My question is where the best platform is to post or maybe two platforms to post for our situation. I also red about direct booking is this a good route too. I would love to fill it up but that seems impossible based on the booking trends I have been reading about. Suggestions! In Aurora/Denver near Central park.

This is all confusing. I am now nervous after learning about the taxes you have to pay if and when you sell the house after using a portion of it as rental income. I was thinking to buy and hold and then rent the top and the bottom. Does that mean when I am ready to sell after renting the whole house the tax implications could be really bad? I am starting to wonder if I should do this? 

@Kelly Brenning @Carini Rochester

Do either of you have an idea how to figure out if our place is an area where we can get a renter? I heard Zillow but can't tell how to know if people are renting in that area. I see rentals up but that doesn't mean the area is a good place for renting.  It would be a basement apartment. Thank you! 

This will be my first long term rental once I get a place. I am trying to preplan. Can you help me know what to do from start to finish? I will not use a property manager since We will live on property. 

.1. Where do you look for a good lease?

2. How have you verified income or credit score? 

3. How do you do a background check?

4. How do you determine deposit they pay?

5. What kind of interview questions do you ask? 

6. How do you verify the information they gave you is legit. example they are not using a friend to verify thier last place they rented? 

7. How do you determine how much to charge? Utilities included? 

8. where do you market the property? which playforms.

9. best way for the tenant to pay rent?

I would love any answers to these questions. If there are other things I am didn't mention I should know please share! 

Thank you!!

@Joe Villeneuve Thank you for breaking that down! That was helpful to read. I really appreciate #4 that is a good way to look at it. I keep reading about the calculators but can't figure out the right one for house hacking. My ultimate goal is to buy a house and rent either the basement or a room that could have a seperate entrance as a STR. Eventually, buy another house after a couple years and rent the first house as an STR and do it over again. Although, there are limited areas around Denver that allows that so not sure how quickly that will happen with the competition.

Do you have a calculator you suggest? 

Patty

Hi, 

I wrote questions the otherday so I hope it is cool to keep asking questions. Anyway, we looked at 5 houses yesterday. In my gut there was something off but maybe i was scared or nervous to make the wrong choice? All homes was with in budget. After a year or two I may want to use the home as a short term rental but due to the county they are in they wouldn't be allowed unless I continued to live on property. Is it still worth to get any house that may work to just get in the market even if I just have to have a long term rental due to the regulations? They other issues were 

1. didn't have a seperate entrance. I may be able to construct and entrance.

2. was 30 minutes from work and sons school. 

3. had some sweat equity and pretty small with a tiny bathroom for us to live in. top of budget. 

4. the neighborhoid wasn't exciting it felt kind of sketchy but had seperate entrance for airbnb. no are for storage for us and realy small for us to feel comfortable living. 

where do I make sacrifices just to get in the market? Is there a way to forcast which homes will appreciate more? Do I wait for a house in a county where I can do a short term rental after moving? 

My max budget there are very few houses so I know may need to ssacrifice to buy a place. Having a 10 year old neighborhood has to feel comfortable. 

Patty

Hi, Thank you for all the great advice! As for as lease renew. We are subleasers where we are the cohosts for a company that rents to the landlord. I know typically they charge you first and last month rent but this company makes you pay $2400 for every month you break your lease. It would be a lot if we have to resign. I will ask though about the month to month. I have a feeling they won't.

As for where we feel comfortable living. It feels like based on the limited options of homes and buget it feels like I should buy in any location just to get in. I will have to sit on this more.

Thank you for sharing anout your client in westminster and the breakdown for getting thier basement rented. I have been curious how much it would cost to build or dig out a basement door and upgrade windows.

As far as buying a duplex I think this is a diiferent loan right? It is an investment loan? 

One more question. Do you look for different things in a home that you know will be best to do a STR when you move from the hpuse that you may not think about if it is your forever home?

This is our first house hack! We are looking to purchase a house with a basement hoping to have a seperate entry or a room that can be a seperate entry. We currently have a house we rent and rent a very small room that has a seperate entry and split profits. We see how succesful it has been so we are ready to own our home and do the same thing. We just can't do what I see many people do and rent rooms in the house due to have a child and 2 dogs. I just don't feel comfortable sharing space unless when we gave a child. I am feeling so LOST on where to look. How do I know if I see what I think is a good house the location would work? Most of the house we are finding for what we can afford is inEasy Aurora or not the best areas of Aurora, westminster or Thorton. I am not sure how to know we will get STR in these areas. I would love to find something in west Denver but there isn't much. We can't fix up much the house but if we have to invest money to create a seperate entry we can do that. I have been so used to living in either downtown Denver or Park hill neighborhood. Would these suburban neighboorhoods like Centenial, Aurora or Thorton be good options? Is there a way to estimate how much I can earn in rental?

The other issue is our rental is supposed to be renewed in a month and a half and the market is so low we feel stick because if we can't find a house by the time the lease runs out we will have to resign but if we do that then we would have to wait another year or there are hige fees to break the lease. 

Thanks for all advice! 

I really want to make this Happen!